SIMMONS: Americans in the giving spirit need not accept a tax penalty

When Newtown, Conn., residents were numbed by a single gunman, trained Red Cross staff and volunteers hit the ground, even consoling and counseling first responders, who had never seen or experienced such a horrifying tragedy.

Earthquake in Haiti. Twin hurricanes on the Gulf Coast. Tsunami in Japan.

While less tech-savvy Americans pulled out their checkbooks and fired up their computers, younger generations whipped out smartphones to text $5, $10, $20 donations to the Red Cross, and other groups pledged challenges to aid mankind. It’s so easy nowadays, and the Obama White House should get out of way.

Sure, Americans are always going to open their wallets because that’s who we are and that’s what we do.

It’s just that I get the sense that the Obama administration is trying to not only increase the “charity tax” but replace human kindness with government spending.

Determined to raise taxes on the rich by forcing them to pay higher rates, the administration might not have given considerable thought to what common folk will do if the tax rate changes.

For certain, much of what common folk donate by way of household goods clothing, footwear, kitchenware, glassware, bicycles, toys and pottery, as the Bidens did to Goodwill they no longer need or want.

But they are giving to what they deem worthy causes.

That is why the president and Congress should give them a bigger break.

About the Author

Award-winning opinion writer Deborah Simmons is a senior correspondent who reports on City Hall and writes about education, culture, sports and family-related topics. Mrs. Simmons has worked at several newspapers, and since joining The Washington Times in 1985, has served as editorial-page editor and features editor and on the metro desk. She has taught copy editing at the University of ...